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The mail bomb scare has ushered in a dark new era of politics in Washington, where the sky-high levels of vitriol and anger seem to reach new heights every day.

For months, lawmakers have worried aloud that their increasingly heated rhetoric could lead to political violence. They’ve debated the extent to which it’s reasonable for protesters to confront their colleagues in public.

But any hope that a direct threat of political violence ahead of the midterm elections might result in a brief moment of unity has vanished amid an explosion of bitter recriminations and finger-pointing between the White House, Democrats and the media over who is to blame for the toxic and increasingly dangerous political culture.

The Hill: Unity fizzles as president, lawmakers and media point fingers.

After an initial call for unity, the president and his White House took aim at the media, alleging that the press are responsible for biased coverage against the administration that has set a toxic tone in the nation’s capital and beyond.

Trump tweeted this morning … at 3:14 a.m.:

“You chose to attack and divide.” – White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders responding to CNN President Jeff Zucker, who accused the president of fomenting anger that led to the attempted violence.

Democrats and many in the press reacted with fury, noting that Trump’s blaming of the media came on the same day that CNN’s headquarters had to be evacuated after it received one of the suspicious devices.

Mainstream media outlets held right-wing talkers responsible for planting seeds of violence. Conservative outlets fumed at what they described as a blackout when it comes to covering left-wing violence. And on and on it goes.

Fortunately, no one has been injured by the package bombs. And by the way, no major campaigns we’re aware of went on hiatus during the hubbub. Trump returns to the trail tonight in Charlotte, N.C. Former President Obama, the intended recipient of one of the devices, is back on the stump today in Wisconsin.

Douglas Schoen: Political leaders must tone down their rhetoric before it’s too late.

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CAMPAIGNS & POLITICS: Trump and Vice President Pence will spend most of their time on the campaign trail between now and Nov. 6, as they try to save GOP’s House majority and build on the Republican majority in the Senate.

On Saturday, Trump is off to Murphysboro, Ill., to stump for Rep. Mike BostMichael (Mike) J. BostMORE (R) in a district the president won by 14 points last cycle. Bost is getting a stiff challenge from Democrat Brendan Kelly in a race that has attracted millions of dollars in outside spending (The Chicago Tribune).

BOMBS INVESTIGATION: A massive hunt for the package bomber intensified on Thursday with news that 10 such devices had been located. Authorities expressed confidence that the serial bomber would be found, and likely soon, based on the extent of forensic evidence and the potential for video records of package drop-offs by the sender(s).

Investigators homed in on leads pointing to Opa-locka, Fla., in Miami-Dade County, and officials said the bomb devices’ design came from the internet. All the suspicious packages were believed to have moved through the U.S. postal system at some point (Reuters).

CBS MIami 4: Opa-locka processing and distribution site handles mail for South Florida.

The sweeping investigation includes: The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Capitol Police, the U.S. Postal Service’s investigative unit, and state and local law enforcement in New York state, New York City, Washington, D.C., Florida and California.

IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES

WHITE HOUSE & ADMINISTRATION:*** OVERNIGHT *** Trump invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit the United States, White House national security adviser John Bolton told reporters today while traveling abroad in Georgia. He said a scheduled meeting Nov. 11 in Paris between the two leaders during a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I is expected to be brief. Trump and Putin held their first bilateral summit in Helsinki in July (Reuters).

Details of the deployment were being finalized on Thursday (Fox News). More than 2,000 National Guard troops already are at the border assisting homeland security personnel.

Although thousands of migrants from primarily Honduras and Guatemala are still more than 1,000 miles from any southwestern states, Trump has expressed his displeasure during his campaign rallies (and on Twitter) while declaring the caravan migration a national security concern.

Relying on a controversial interpretation of presidential authority, Trump is weighing whether he can seal the southern border with Mexico using executive action, possibly highlighting his decision during a speech about immigration on Tuesday. Such a move would end up in court, but would be a potential crowd-pleaser among many GOP voters a week ahead of Election Day (The New York Times). If the president goes forward, most Central American migrants seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border would be prevented from gaining entry, according to sources familiar with the discussions (NBC News).

***

Drug prices: The president on Thursday said his administration is taking aggressive steps to lower pharmaceutical costs. A proposed regulation would create an "international pricing index" that would be used as a reference to set prices for drugs under Medicare Part B, the section of Medicare that covers drugs administered by physicians. Trump’s announcement, timed two weeks before the midterm elections, does not impact the prices of drugs dispensed to patients through pharmacies (The Hill).

***

Trump’s cell phone security: The president dismissed as “fake news” a New York Times report that described his cell phone calls to friends and associates identified by unnamed government sources as insecure and grist for eavesdropping by the Chinese and Russians. The president has been advised to discontinue using his iPhones, but has refused, according to the newspaper. Politico published a similar account of Trump’s smartphone vulnerabilities in May.

China dismissed the newspaper account as fiction and wryly suggested Trump exchange his iPhone for a cell phone made by Chinese manufacturer Huawei (The Washington Post). Russia’s spokesman said Moscow was “amused” by assertions it listens to the president’s allegedly insecure phone conversations (The Hill).

Pompeo officiates at the swearing-in ceremony for Assistant Secretary for Conflict and Stabilization Operations Denise Natali at the Department of State at 4 p.m.

The Commerce Department releases its advance estimate of U.S. growth in the third quarter at 8:30 a.m., and economists anticipate a gross domestic product increase of approximately 3.3 percent compared with 4.2 percent in the second quarter. Expectations are for slower growth during the remainder of this year and next, as the stimulative effects of lower taxes and higher federal spending begin to ebb.

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ELSEWHERE

> Tech: Google protected three male executives accused of sexual misconduct over the past decade. The company paid an exit package of $90 million to Andy Rubin, the “father of Android,” while remaining silent about the software creator’s behavior (The New York Times). … Ride-share companies such as Lyft and Uber are linked by researchers to a rise in fatal traffic accidents (Business Insider). … Apple News’s radical approach lets humans rather than algorithms pick the news (The New York Times) … YouTube is getting better at curbing the spread of misinformation during breaking news, but Facebook and Twitter are still struggling (The Hill).

> Red tape: Trump’s deregulatory efforts keep losing in court (Brookings Institution analysis report by Connor Raso). “The administration has prevailed in one case and either lost or abandoned its position in 18 cases.”

And they knew that George W. Bush is the only former U.S. president to have owned a stake in a Major League Baseball team, the Texas Rangers.

A franchise that has never made it to a World Series is the Washington Nationals. The Seattle Mariners have also never been.

In World Series history, the only pitcher with a perfect game was Don Larsen of the New York Yankees.

As a teenager, Donald Trump was known among fellow students as a talented baseball player and he became captain of the varsity team at the New York Military Academy.

(ICYMI, when he was 12, the president wrote a poem about baseball that appeared in the yearbook: “I like to hear the crowd give cheers, so loud and noisy to my ears. When the score is 5-5, I feel like I could cry. And when they get another run, I feel like I could die. Then the catcher makes an error, not a bit like Yogi Berra. The game is over and we say tomorrow is another day.”)